On Nov. 30, boutique developer Golden Bay Land Holdings finally completed the construction phase of its first commercial property: the Aspire Corporate Plaza. The iconic new structure, boasting modern architectural innovation at the heart of the Macapagal Bay Complex in Pasay City, is set to welcome its first set of tenants starting this month.
Among the businesses set to make Aspire their new home are several local and multinational companies from the manufacturing, trading, services, I.T., and food industries. Aspire will be managed by KMC Savills, a global property management firm with a trustworthy record of managing and maintaining various properties. Top-notch services like security, housekeeping, building maintenance system will be the primary focus of the property management team.
“As we developed the property, we also thoroughly planned the operations of the building by integrating all major functions into a dedicated BMS (Building Management System), which will supervise and monitor major control points such as building pumps, generators, security and visitor management system, sewage treatment plant, and more,” says Jardin Brian B. Wong, Chief Operating Officer of Golden Bay Land Holdings.
Persistence amid the pandemic
Despite gargantuan challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Golden Bay successfully completed its mission to bring innovation to office building architecture by generally upgrading the features expected out of a Grade A Premium office building.
“Time, effort, and strategic thinking was invested by all of the designers, architects, and development team for all the common areas. As a result we have a better parking system (carousel system made by MHE Demag, a German company) and a well thought of Sky Garden that serves as an informal meeting area for businessmen and doubles as a recreation zone for employees and visitors alike. We also feature a best-in-class integrated Building Management System that monitors electricity usage, water tank system levels, elevator usage, and security system,” says Wong.
Many of the building’s features can be characterized as “very generous” as they exceed common standards when it comes to existing building designs. Features like number of elevators (seven high-speed elevators as compared to four for buildings of the same size), hallway width (2 meters as compared to the usual 1.5 meters), and other upgraded designs have been incorporated to make an elevated office experience possible for anyone walks in the confines of Aspire Corporate Plaza.
As the ongoing global pandemic has changed different aspects of our lives, including the way we move in public spaces, Golden Bay also took into consideration health safety and social distancing as continued and completed construction.
“Throughout the construction stage, there was a constant process of reviewing existing plans and features vis-a-vis the expected actual usage of all building systems in the development. Changes had to be made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Provisions such as touch-less entry of registered tenants, as well as repeat visitors, was made possible due to the quick decision of the management. Mid-way through the project, we procured facial recognition devices in addition to standard RFID card and fingerprint mechanisms, and matched them with a customized visitor management software that can be accessed through a touch screen directory panel,” Wong added.
Paving the way for economic revival
Having persisted and succeeded amid all obstacles, the 3,500sqm Aspire Corporate Plaza not only stands tall as a symbol of architectural innovation in Metro Manila and the Philippines, but also as a beacon of hope for the country’s future.
“We think that it is vital as a company to remain positive about the general outlook of our economy. We have an informal tagline that basically says ‘We Aspire to Inspire,’ and we feel that we have a unique opportunity to lead by continuing to invest in high value and high impact projects that not only deliver optimal results to the bottomline of the company but ultimately yield a positive impact on the society. Business must continue to innovate, opening up the possibilities to use more eco friendly practices and materials that deliver lesser emissions to the environment. It is also imperative to continue to listen, nurture and invest in our own workforce so that they may contribute to our ultimate goal of offering nation building projects,” says Wong.
